MONROE, La. – The ULM softball team (10-2) travels to Auburn's Plainsman Invitational for four games over the weekend and opens with Delaware State Friday, Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. CT. at the Jane B. Moore Field. The Warhawks and No. 21 Auburn play at 2:30 p.m. CT Friday in their second game of the day.
Following a schedule change for the weekend tournament, ULM will compete only once on Saturday, meeting Bradley at 11:30 a.m. CT. The second game with the Tigers is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
"We've been the visiting team for the last six games and we've got to figure out how to start with our foot on the gas pedal from the first pitch," said ULM head coach
Molly Fichtner. "In the top of the first, we've got to score a couple of runs and get on the board. Then we've got to score in the top of the second, the third, the fourth, and make the other team feel like they have to catch up. It's hard to always have to respond when you're not at home, because you're always headed into the next inning, and that's just one thing that we've got to be better at."
Four Warhawks have batting averages above .400 to help put the team at .350 overall, good for 14th nationally.
Kennedy Page smacked her second home run of the season and she and
Madelyn Fletcher have 11 RBI for the season to lead ULM. Center fielder
Lourdes Bacon, the lead-off hitter in the last three games, has a team-best 17 hits.
Victoria Abrams has a 4-0 record with a team-high 25.2 innings pitched.
Kassidy Giddens (3-0) picked up the win Tuesday night and owns a 1.54 ERA.
Fichtner noted that Thursday's preparation will include live practice to allow the Warhawks to see some quicker pitching and work also with the pitchers on an off-speed and a change-up to make sure they are ready to face potent offenses this weekend. Defensively, she also wants to see the Warhawks take care of the ball and eliminate their errors.
This is the second time ULM will play in Auburn's Plainsman Invitational after going 3-2 in the 2014 edition of the event. That 2014 tournament also marks the only previous time the Warhawks and Tigers have met, resulting in a 9-2 Tiger win.
Delaware State is 0-3 on the season and is back in action after opening the 2022 season last weekend with a three-game series vs. Hartford. Junior left fielder Felicity Munoz had two hits in the Hornets' game Sunday for her team-best fifth of the year. Munoz is batting .500 on the year. Junior infielder Sandrea Hord drove in the Hornet run with a triple. Emma Glawson, Mayanah McIntosh and McKenzie Yurcaba have all made starts for the Hornets this season with Kendall Harvey recording six innings pitched to lead Delaware State overall.
Auburn, ranked 21st nationally, is 10-1 this season with its only loss coming to No. 3 UCLA. Wednesday, the Tigers topped Jacksonville State 10-0 in a run-rule victory, their fifth of the season. Auburn plated seven runs in the top of the sixth inning after holding a 3-0 lead over the Gamecocks. The Tigers average nearly eight runs a game at 7.91 with a team slugging percentage of .635, eighth in the nation, and have four shutouts so far in 2022.
Sophomore Denver Bryant has the Tigers' best batting average at .440 with 11 hits and two home runs. Sophomore Bri Ellis and freshmen Makala Packer have four home runs each this year with Ellis and freshman Nelia Peralta tied for the team's lead with 12 RBI.
With an ERA of 0.98, sophomore Maddie Penta is ninth in the country with 52 strikeouts with Shelby Lowe ranked 18th with 43. The pair rank one-two in the Southeastern Conference chart in that category. Both have five victories coming into the weekend's competition.
Bradley (4-5) won three out of four games at the Roar City Invite in Nashville, Tenn., last weekend, splitting a pair of contests against defending MAC champion Miami (Ohio) wins against Tennessee State and IUPUI.
Seniors Camryn Monteer (.357) and Samantha Smith (.345) top the Braves' list with 10 hits each and sophomore Jordy van de Werf has 10 a team-best 10 RBI this season. Smith had home runs in back-to-back games in the Roar City Invite and went 4-for-4 against Tennessee State with three RBI. All four Brave pitchers have one win with Grace French (1-2) pitching 21.2 innings with a team-best 16 strikeouts in her four appearances and ERA of 3.88.
Links for the live stats for the weekend's games are available on the softball schedule page at
ULMWarhawks.com. Sunday's 2 p.m. CT matchup vs. Auburn will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
